Existentialism of social media

Do you exist if you're not on Twitter? Take a look at this video for commentary on the role of social media in our lives.

After viewing, go to Twitter.com, sign up, and follow DigitalNow to stay apprised of all the latest news.

Please note: Even if you do not sign up for Twitter, we suspect you will still exist. (Just don't miss DigitalNow 2009 - registration is opening soon!)

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DigitalNow 2008 was a sold out event; did you miss it?

Save the dates for 2009: April 15 - 18 at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts. Mark it on your calendar!

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Gartner's Cycle of Hype for emerging technologies

The Peak of Inflated Expectations. The Trough of Disillusionment. The Slope of Enlightenment. These phrases could describe the stages of any number of human experiences, from romance to politics. What they actually describe are the stages of Gartner's 2008 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies.

Gartner has identified 27 emerging technologies, and predicts that eight of them will have a "transformational business impact and should be strongly considered for adoption by technology planners in the next 10 years."

"Although Web 2.0 is now entering the Trough of Disillusionment, it will emerge within two years to have transformational impact, as companies steadily gain more experience and success with both the technologies and the cultural implications," said Jackie Fenn, vice president and Gartner Fellow. "Later ­ in between two and five years ­ cloud computing and service-oriented architecture (SOA), which is moving up the Slope of Enlightenment, will deliver transformation in terms of driving deep changes in the role and capabilities of IT. Finally, public virtual worlds, which are suffering from disillusionment after their peak of hype in 2007, will in the long term represent an important media channel to support and build broader communities of interest."

The idea that there is a semblance of predictability to what organizations sometimes perceive as a technology-enabled chaos is good news. It means that as we respond and react to the "digital revolution," we can also plan, predict, and participate in the way it shapes and molds our associations.

Read the article at Gartner.com.

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DigitalNow 2008 was a sold out event; did you miss it?

Save the dates for 2009: April 15 - 18 at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts. Mark it on your calendar!

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Fusion Productions is your unique E-Learning partner. Watch the overview.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

Using social media to create social change

Marcia Stepanek, DigitalNow 2008 speaker and founding Editor-in-Chief of Contribute Media, is putting social media to work. Her blog, Cause Global, is dedicated to reporting on the ways in which people around the world are using social media to create social change.

In her latest post, Marcia provides an excerpt from an interview with Peter Gabriel - who in addition to being a successful and famous musician - founded The Hub, "the world's first participatory media site for human rights."

When asked about the power of digital media to advocate for free speech, Gabriel replied, "You know, the broader lesson about social media is that people want to connect and share and publish their own content. It’s not that they’ve necessarily stopped watching the mainstream media; rather, they don’t see the fullest extent of their lives reflected in the mainstream media. Maybe that’s what the role of social media is, to reflect that much fuller, rounder, human experience. I think that part of that experience, which ironically is feeding back into the mainstream media, is about what people think is wrong with the world and how they are sharing about how to change it."

Read the excerpt at Cause Global.

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DigitalNow 2008 was a sold out event; did you miss it?

Save the dates for 2009: April 15 - 18 at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts. Mark it on your calendar!

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Fusion Productions is your unique E-Learning partner. Watch the overview.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com

The state of our nation's youth

According to a report issued by the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans and conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, America's teens are "confident, ambitious and optimistic in spite of the many challenges we all face as a nation."

The report compiles the results of a national survey. Highlights of the survey include:

• 75% of teens say that the Presidential election will make a significant difference in the direction of the country.


• 72% believe global warming is an urgent problem.


• One in three teens say that that science and technology are the most important subjects necessary to help prepare them for a global economy.


• 49% of teens believe that immigration in the U.S. is positive force; 40% believe it is a negative one.

David L. Sokol, President and CEO of the Horatio Alger Association said "A key mission of the Association is to invest in our nation's teens, and with this research, we continue to utilize the tools to gain an understanding of America's teens. Our aim is to initiate a dialogue between teens and the adults in their lives which encourages growth, appreciation, and most importantly success."

Read the entire report.

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DigitalNow 2008 was a sold out event; did you miss it?

Save the dates for 2009: April 15 - 18 at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts. Mark it on your calendar!

Follow DigitalNow on Twitter.

Fusion Productions is your unique E-Learning partner. Watch the overview.

Contribute to the DigitalNow blog. Suggest a blog topic, or reference an article or other item you think would be of interest to the DigitalNow community. Drop us a line at DigitalNow@fusionproductions.com